If we were having coffee, I would tell you that we survived the blizzard just fine. It’s funny how a deep blanket of snow can make the house warmer. School had been cancelled the night before in anticipation of the storm and we had a two hour delay the next day.

The week before, the battery in my car died. As luck would have it, the day before the snowfall Little Bear’s bus broke down in the morning. I had to tell them I wasn’t able to bring him in. I guess having him home motivated my dad to fix the car sooner. We were lucky enough to find one for my car; the shelves were pretty bare. It turned out we weren’t the only ones replacing batteries.

Image provided by Pixabay.com

So the morning after the blizzard, I was outside with Little Bear waiting for the bus, and of course, he had to climb all over the banks my dad created from plowing. I had just got done telling him that Grampa wouldn’t be happy if he buried the walkway to the door, when he started yelling about losing his boot in the snow.

There I was, wading over to him in hip deep snow, knowing the bus would show up at any second, to start digging. I couldn’t find the boot! I must have dug a good five inches all around the spot.

Who doesn’t freak out in a moment like that?

Little Bear was the one who spotted it buried right next to me. I fished up the boot, scooped out the snow, put it back on his foot, and debated on grabbing an extra pair of socks. This is when the bus showed up. I decided to let it go since I knew the school would call me if there was a problem. Never got a phone call, so I guess everything worked out okay.

Overall, this was a far better winter adventure than last year when he almost got hit with a large falling icicle. This year I’ve been extra vigilant in trying to keep him away from those.

Image provided by Pixabay.com

Well, that’s the family news for this week. On to the personal news!

I finally got the commercial license for this MissMMD model, so I’ll be resuming customization of it in Blender. Not sure what all I want to do yet, but I still feel this avatar needs a long coat or jacket of some kind. Whatever it is that I decide to do, I will keep you updated with my progress as I continue to learn how to create 3D assets. First thing on the agenda should be making a mug, and some home styled staging now that I think about it.

In another interesting turn of events, Square-Enix announced changes in their policy regarding their copyrighted materials for Final Fantasy XI (FFXI). It now includes permission to make videos of their game and earn ad revenue, but you’re still not allowed to commercialize their materials in any other way. There are some restrictions to the creation of these videos. Such as not using third party music instead of the game’s music, not mixing it with materials not from FFXI, and making sure the copyright and trademark notices are included with these materials. Be sure to read over the policy if you’d like to make videos of this game.

FINAL FANTASY XI © 2002 – 2018 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.

As for me and making videos, I’m not sure what I would like to do. My preference is to write… but I do enjoy messing about with Blender and MMD. I have so many ideas, but my time is limited. So for now, I think I’ll focus on mastering the process and share with you the results of my experiments and progress whether it’s a vlog or music video. Who knows, maybe I’ll even begin recording gameplay from FFXI.

Well, that’s it from me for now. How has your week been? Let me know in the comments!

As I close this post, I leave below this weekend’s music playlist for the Chaos Rally. This time around I selected a few songs with something to keep in mind as we tackle the resolutions we’ve made for the year. I hope you all stay warm and safe this winter season. Here’s wishing you much love, light, and laughter until next time!